Hypothegesis

The Unrighteous

psalmenthusiast — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 03:25:23 +0000

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers…” (1 Corinthians 6)

Paul isn’t talking about the unrighteous unbelievers out in the world. This was a warning for those in the church who were defrauding their fellow church members. “Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.”

The Least of These

psalmenthusiast — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 03:05:00 +0000

When Jesus refers to “the least of these my brethren” in Matthew 25, he is not saying that neglect of the poor will get you a rap that sin against the rich won’t, he is saying that he cares about all his people, not just the important ones. He is saying that you can’t get a passing grade by just treating the pastors and the prophets well. If you sin against the clueless, but faithful, Christian whom nobody holds in any esteem, Jesus still cares about them and will hold you accountable. Jesus is no respector of persons.

The Wrath of Man

psalmenthusiast — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:58:38 +0000

“…let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God” (James 1). The “wrath of man” is here contrasted with “slow to wrath”, and hence is its opposite: the wrath of man is hasty wrath. Structurally, this statement is equivalent to saying, “Be sure to get up early every day: teenager’s hours will never make you rich.” It is implied that “teenager’s hours” are late instead of early, as it is implied that “the wrath of man” is hasty instead of slow. It is not implied that all teenagers keep “teenager’s hours” — just because a man is angry does not mean his anger is “the wrath of man”.

God’s wrath, on the other hand, is slow. We are often told that. “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth…”. James is not exhorting us to never be angry, he is exhorting us to be like God: slow to wrath.

Job on Imprecation

psalmenthusiast — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 06:36:24 +0000

Weighing in against imprecation is Job in chapter 31: “If I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook him — no, I have not allowed my mouth to sin by asking for his life in a curse.”

Breath of Life

psalmenthusiast — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 06:30:47 +0000

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Adam is animated into being by the breath of God.

When the patriarchs die in Genesis, they breathe their last. When Jesus died on the cross, he breathed his last. Or in the rendering of the king james, they gave up the ghost. Which is to say, they let their spirit go. That is, they breathed out their soul.

In the book of Job, Elihu talks about the breath of God. Well, first Job says in chapter 27 that “all the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils”. Then Elihu picks up on the theme a few chapters later: “the spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life”. And he expands on it in chapter 34, “if [God would] gather unto himself his spirit and his breath all flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust”.

The very breath of God in our nostrils. The very spirit of God moving in and out of our lungs. Our life is but a breath, the psalmist says. “In him we live and move and have our being,” says Paul.

And if all that weren’t enough, check out what Jesus does in John chapter 20. It is written, “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, ‘Receive ye the Holy Ghost.’”

Wow.

Discipline

psalmenthusiast — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 06:29:24 +0000

The great passage on disciplining children is in Hebrews 12. It says that no discipline is pleasant at the time but it is worth it in the long haul, and claims that if God disciplines you, it’s because he loves you. But there’s something curious about this. The Hebrews aren’t being chewed out for being disobedient.

Sure, the author of the book is worried about them. They have gone through persecution before, he notes, and are going through it again. He is concerned that they will grow weary and give up, melt down in the face of opposition. And what are they being persecuted for? Not for any wicked deeds they have done, but for their faith. And this persecution, this opposition they are facing for their belief in the true God and his son Jesus Christ — that is the discipline that God is giving them. That is his means of chastening and scourging. That is how he is refining them and bringing about the peaceable fruits of righteousness.

Which means that discipline isn’t necessarily punitive. Means it probably isn’t even punitive at its core. The man who loves his son makes him do really hard work that the son would never do on his own initiative, not because he did bad things, but that he might learn in time to do much better things than he would ever accomplish otherwise.

Leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees

psalmenthusiast — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 01:46:55 +0000

The hypocrisy of the pharisees becomes apparent as the gospel narratives progress. But nowhere is it so obvious as at the end of the story.

When they haul Jesus before Pilate, what charge do they lay? That he has been teaching people not to pay tribute to Caesar and that he himself is a king. The first part of that charge is false, something they tried to catch him saying but couldn’t. The second is true. So they’re just loyal to Caesar and the status quo, right?

Well, no, because when Pilate asks them whom they want to have released for the feast, they insist on Barabbas. And what were his crimes? Insurrection and murder. Yup, they would rather have an already-convicted insurrectionist than one the civil authorities have just declared guiltless of that charge. False pretenses all around.

And consider what they do when Judas returns to them, repenting his betrayal. It’s in Matthew, chapter twenty-seven. He tells them he has betrayed innocent blood. They don’t deny it. They just say, “We don’t care. That’s your problem.” And when he throws the blood money down in the temple and leaves, they have a moral quandary. “We can’t put that money in the treasury. It’s blood money, and putting blood money in the treasury is against the law.” As if paying money for innocent blood isn’t. As if bearing false testimony against innocent blood isn’t. As if condemning the just isn’t. As if murder isn’t.

Truly, they strain out gnats and swallow camels.

Sheep-stealers

psalmenthusiast — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 02:40:31 +0000

The discourse at the beginning of John 10 — I am the good shepherd, my sheep know my voice and follow me, I lay down my life for the sheep, etc. — is not preached to the sheep. It is directed to some Pharisees who overheard what he said to the man born blind. So what is he saying to these Pharisees?

He says they are thieves and robbers. He says they have only come to break in and steal. He says they are trying to circumvent his authority and sneak around his protection. And he says they won’t succeed. Because he isn’t like a hired hand; he is a shepherd who loves his sheep and will fight to the death for them. And he knows who his sheep are and they know and will follow him, and will not follow strangers. They will not be deceived and cannot be stolen.

And this fits into things. The man born blind was just kicked out of the synagogue because he refused to deny Christ or his miraculous healing. The Pharisees are trying to control the synagogue and keep the people from listening to Jesus. Not gonna happen.

(Cross-reference the parable of the vineyard tenants in Matthew 21 and the sheep/shepherd stuff in Ezekiel 34.)

The parable of the Imprecatory Widow

psalmenthusiast — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 03:51:10 +0000

The parable of the widow and the unjust judge is about vengeance. The widow prays for vengeance on her adversary and the judge finally breaks down and gives it. God will avenge his own elect speedily, Jesus tells us. “Nevertheless when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” The coming of the Son of Man is strongly associated with judgment. The Son of Man will come, I suggest, to do vengeance on the adversaries of God’s elect. And when he comes, will he find men still praying for it?

This is not a parable exhorting us to endless, patient prayer for sick relatives. It is an exhortation to constant, faithful, imprecatory prayer. For that’s what imprecatory prayer is, a prayer for justice on those who have harmed us.

And we find things played out exactly this way in the book of Revelation. In the sixth chapter, after the fifth seal is opened, John sees the martyred saints under the alter, crying out to God for vengeance on their enemies who shed their blood. They are comforted, clothed in white, and told that they must wait just a little while longer for their vengeance, but it is coming. And when the Son of Man comes, he wreaks vengeance and havoc on those enemies.

Now, to be sure, we are not to take vengeance into our own hands. But that’s because vengeance is God’s. It’s God’s job. And because it’s God’s job, he wants us to ask him to do it. He wants us to ask it of him. And that’s what this parable is about.

Update: The start of 2 Thessalonians also neatly comports with this.

Inventoried Hairs

psalmenthusiast — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:23:27 +0000

And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!

Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

I suggest that God has inventoried our hairs so that he knows if one of them is destroyed. Jesus tells his disciples not to fear men. The most they can do is kill you. So this is in the context of threatened physical violence, up to and including death. (And Jesus lived in that context much, if not most, of his ministry.) And in that context, Jesus tells us that God will know if one our hairs goes missing. Why? By implication, so it can be required at the hands of him who took it.

My wife points out that something similar is going on in Psalm 56. The psalmist states that God has numbered his wanderings (or tossings or something), and pleads that God would put his tears into a bottle and write them down in his book. He wants God to keep count of his sufferings and pains, and then right his wrongs.